'Offensive' Facebook post: Hindu homes, businesses looted and vandalised in Sunamganj

Several houses and shops belonging to Hindus were vandalised and looted yesterday (3 December) by a mob in Sunamganj's Dowarabazar, allegedly following an "offensive" Facebook post made by a local Hindu youth.

The attacks took place between evening and midnight yesterday, according to police and locals.

The situation was later brought under control by the Bangladesh Army at around 2:30am.

The youth who made the post has been detained, Dowarabazar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Zahidul Haque told The Business Standard.

"We are trying to identify the attackers. If a complaint is filed, then we will take legal actions."

Locals said a group brought out a procession over the alleged offensive Facebook post during which they attacked the houses and shops.

Hindu leaders say dozens of homes vandalised, local admin says attack figures exaggerated

Hindu religious leaders said dozens of houses and shops were vandalised, while the administration claimed that the number was less.

"At least 30 houses in the village were vandalised Tuesday night.

Then, they [attackers] brought out a procession in the local kitchen market area and vandalised over 100 shops. They also looted 4-5 gold shops," alleged Dowarabazar Loknath Mandir Management Committee General Secretary Khokan Roy. 

He claimed the protesting attackers ransacked the Loknath temple, causing damages of up to Tk20 lakh.

Khokan also alleged that the residence and family temple of a local Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council leader, Gaur Das, was attacked that night.

The local administration, however, said the attack wasn't large and "only a few establishments" were damaged.

"A few houses have been attacked and vandalised. But we are yet to confirm exactly how many houses were attacked. The situation is under control now," Dowarabazar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Meher Nigar Tonu told TBS.

"Nothing big happened. A vested quarter is deliberately trying to exaggerate the incident. The area is now under the control of the local administration," said Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner Md Ilias Mia.

The interim government has come under pressure recently following reports on attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.

The Indian foreign ministry last week urged the interim government to protect its minorities following the arrest of a Hindu priest from Dhaka airport.

The Bangladesh government, at different times, has reiterated its commitment to ensuring the security of minority groups.

A recent report by the Voice of America said a significant portion of Bangladesh's population believes the caretaker government is providing better security for religious and ethnic minorities compared to the previous Awami League government.

The recent spate of misinformation and some incidents of violence has brought social media and its role under the spotlight.

'Social media giant not doing enough'

A number of violent clashes in Bangladesh following rumours, screenshots of social media and fake news spread through Facebook have taken place over the years.

The rapid spread of such posts has led to questions being raised about social media giants such as Facebook.

Amid scrutiny, in 2018, Facebook informed that the company was equipped with proactive tools to detect hate speech, rumours, and related content. It has a team of 15,000 people who speak 50 different languages and are employed to review content from around the world.

The company also said it is working to develop effective artificial intelligence (AI) to proactively detect violent content.

But experts say the steps Facebook has taken are not enough.

In September 2018, the United Nations Fact Finding Mission in Myanmar released its full report on potential genocide, human rights abuses and war crimes against the Rohingya ethnic minority.

It stated that, "Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where, for most users, Facebook is the internet."

The Mission noted that "the response of Facebook has been slow and ineffective" and that "Facebook is unable to provide country-specific data about the spread of hate speech on its platform, which is imperative to assess the adequacy of its response."

Bangladesh has expressed similar concerns regarding Facebook's steps on reviewing content.

Facebook admitted it failed to do enough to prevent its platform being used to fuel political division and bloodshed in Myanmar.

A recent report by Digitally Right, a private organisation that works on freer flow of information in an accountable manner, showed that social media businesses fail to tackle industrialisation of misinformation, as they make 45-55% of their revenue through ad views on publisher content.